Chamber Corner with Larry McHugh

2014 has just begun, but the Chamber calendar has already been affected by our good ole New England winter weather. Unfortunately, our Role of the Year Member Breakfast Meeting, scheduled for last Friday at the Crowne Plaza Cromwell, had to be postponed due to the late week snow storm. We were really looking forward to the event which was planned to honor Army Sergeant First Class Joe Kapacziewski, the only amputee in the history of the United States Army Rangers to return to combat. Joe was born in Durham and was educated in Bristol. He has ten tours of duty in defense of this country to his credit, five in Iraq, and five in Afghanistan. He is the author of “Back in the Fight”, a terrific book about his amazing story. The Chamber staff will work with Joe and his family to come up with a new date for a rescheduled Role Model Breakfast. Joe is stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia, and I very much appreciate his willingness to fly in and visit with our members. We were expecting a huge crowd and hope to have an even larger group at the rescheduled event. We thank Joe for his support of our Chamber, and honor him for his service to our country. 

Despite the winter weather, the Chamber’s Central Business Bureau met last Thursday morning at our Main Street offices. Mayor Dan Drew and a number of city directors gave reports, as did Rich Greco and Al Santostefano, co-chairs of the Holiday on Main Street Committee, who gave a wrap up report on Middletown’s very successful 28th Annual Holiday on Main Street festivities. I would like to again thank Mayor Drew and the city’s directors for their leadership and coordination through these periods of inclement weather. 

This week features the first 2014 meetings of our Portland & East Hampton Division, Cromwell Division, Down County Division, Environment, Land Use and Energy Committee, Business Education Partnership Advisory Council, Middletown Mentor Program Core Committee, Real Estate Council, and a joint meeting of the Middlesex Businesswomen’s Alliance and the Health Care Council. 

Next Tuesday morning, the Chamber will host two sessions of Sexual Harassment Prevention Training, one beginning at 8:00 a.m., and another beginning at 10:15 a.m. The definition of sexual harassment, liability, your own and the organizations, and the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace will be discussed. Attorneys from the law firm Jackson Lewis, LLP, will demonstrate how to limit your company's exposure to charges of sexual harassment. Each session meets the State of Connecticut's requirement for two hours of sexual harassment training for supervisors and managers. Two hours mandatory attendance is required to receive certificate. Please visit www.middlesexchamber.com for more information, or to register for these important seminars. Other Chamber groups that are meeting next week include our Durham & Middlefield Division, Micro Business Council, Transportation Council, Ambassador Program Steering Committee, Board of Directors, Golf Committee, and MCSAAC Advisory Board. 

The first Member Business After Work Networking Event of 2014 is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 5th at The Gelston House in East Haddam. The Gelston House is a terrific supporter of our Chamber and hosts a number of meetings throughout the year. We look forward to this Business After Work event which will feature free beer, wine, non-alcoholic drinks, a terrific spread of Gelston House food, and the best networking around. 

On Monday, Feb. 10, we will welcome United States Senator Richard Blumenthal to a Member Breakfast Meeting. Senator Blumenthal visits with our Chamber every year and we look forward to another great Breakfast Meeting. Senator Blumenthal’s committee assignments include the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the Committee on Veterans Affairs. These assignments are extremely important, particularly to the economy in Middlesex County and the state of Connecticut. I would like to thank Pratt & Whitney for their sponsorship of this event with the Senator, and for their strong and continuous support of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce. 

This Blumenthal Breakfast will be immediately followed by a seminar on affordable housing, hosted by our Affordable Housing Committee and sponsored by Liberty Bank Foundation. The program will focus on the development of affordable housing in Middlesex County, and will feature Evonne M. Klein, Commissioner of new State Department of Housing, Eric Chatman, President & Executive Director, Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA), Macky McCleary, Deputy Commissioner for Environmental Quality, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), and Michael Rendulic, Rural Development Coordinator, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). We look forward to a busy, but productive morning on Feb. 10. 

Our annual Legislative Breakfast featuring the Middlesex County legislative delegation is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 21st. This event is sponsored by Comcast. This is an important Breakfast meeting which is held every year during the legislative session in Hartford. The Chamber now has 15 legislators that represent towns in our service area, and they are all invited to attend and visit with our members.    

Finally, be sure to save the dates for our Member Breakfast Meeting featuring UCONN Head Women’s Basketball Coach Geno Auriemma on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, and the Annual Member Business After Work Auction and Taste of Downtown on Tuesday, March 25th. 

We have reached a new year in Middlesex County, and the Chamber is off and running.

For more information on Chamber events and activities, please visit www.middlesexchamber.com